One of the first lines of attack you should use to control acne are over-the-counter acne remedies. These treatments include some of the best acne products available, and are inexpensive, easy to use, and can be purchased without a prescription. Even though you can't cure acne and you can't bring back the beautiful skin you had as a baby, it is not necessary to put up with the embarrassment of acne in your teen years or into adulthood. Try various acne solutions and camouflage the blemishes when they do appear until you find the treatment that works best for you.
Home Care Acne Remedies
Although keeping your skin clean won't cure acne, you can improve the situation with proper cleansing methods and products:
· Purchase a gentle soap or medicated cleanser and use it to wash your skin two or three times a day with lukewarm water, using your bare hands or a soft cloth. Pat your skin dry with a towel. Do not use harsh soaps, cleansers or rough cloths, which will worsen skin conditions. If you wash really often, the excess oil causing the blackheads and pimples will actually increase, not decrease - exactly what you don't want
1. Your skin shouldn't be so dry that it feels tight, and, if it does, use an antibacterial moisturizer to soften it.
2. If your skin is producing so much oil between washings it looks and feels oily, use antibacterial cleansing pads.
3. If your face feels dry and tight except around the nose and chin where it feels and looks oily and is the major site of breakouts, use the antibacterial cleanser on those areas only and the moisturizer elsewhere.
· Once a week, use a clay or a mud mask for deep cleansing, followed by a clarifying mask.
· If your facial skin is scaly, you may have abnormal skin shedding, which is clogging your pores, trapping the oil, and causing breakouts. Use a deep cleaning exfoliate once a week.
· Heat and humidity make acne worse and so you should limit your time in the sun and avoid saunas, sunlamps, and tanning salons.
· Use makeup designed for acne-prone skin, and concealers that not only reduce redness and conceal spots, but also help dry them up.
· Keep your hair and your hands away from your face.
· Homemade remedies include:
1. Lime and cucumber juice - can be applied to oily patches
2. Witch hazel - a good astringent
Best Ingredients in Over-the-Counter Acne Remedies
You should choose acne remedies that:
1. Decrease the production of oil (sebum) that clogs the pores;
2. Reduce the bacteria that becomes active in clogged pores;
3. Reduce the shedding of the skin that clogs pores; and
4. Control the inflammation that produces pimples.
· If your skin is very sensitive, use clay or mud masks that are white- or rose-colored.
· If your big problem is extreme oiliness, use cleansers and moisturizers that contain alcohol; if not, avoid it.
· Cosmetics should always be water-based rather than oil-based.
· Benzyol Peroxide reduces oiliness and is an excellent ingredient in lotion or gel, and also in blemish concealers. Use small amounts initially as it can make your skin itchy and red when you first begin using it. It will dry blemishes and reduce shedding of the skin.
· Salicylic acid in topical applications will help reduce skin shedding and will help unclog pores.
· Sulfur is a good ingredient when combined with other products, and so is acetone, which is often combined with alcohol to make a good, gentle astringent.
· Look for the term "non-comedogenic" in anti-acne products, which means "will not cause breakouts."
· If you favor natural products over chemicals, success has been reported with herbal acne solutions that contain such ingredients as tea tree oil, olive leaf, and licorice root, among others.
· Topical products that contain a slow-release form of vitamin A are very good.
If you can't control your acne with an over-the-counter remedy, consult a physician for stronger medication. Without a prescription, you can purchase purification and cleansing masks, scrubs and gels, blemish bombs, acne patches, and acne concealing products that have proven effectiveness. Good luck.
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